Restoring Rusty

[LSX408]

Looks good!

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by LSX408

Looks good!

Thank you

[Gregski]

so first a dry fit, just to see if the holes align and what the gaps are like

[Gregski]

at this point it was getting late, I was cold and hungry, but there was no way I was going to stop here

so we will be using another FelPro gasket (but not all the pieces just the blue sides, per Weiands instructions we are NOT to use the middle pieces)

I could not find any gasket adhesive maybe I was looking for the wrong stuff, I imagined it would be in an aerosole spray can, anyway I needed some stick-to-it-avness so I just gently coated the heads with RTV silicone

then I ran a 1/4 inch beed of RTV down the middle as per the instructions

I used carb cleaner to clean all the grease off of all the maiting surfaces (AutoZone was all sold out of Brake cleaner, can you believe that that's like an Irish bar running out of booze)

[Gregski]

torqued all 12 bolts in the super special sequence using a torque wrench first to 10 ft lfbs then to 15 and finally to 25 ft lbs

only one bolt gave me trouble to torque to spec that pesky third bolt from the front on the passenger side, the intake stack is perfectly in the way on that side, it seems to be set more to that side than the driver's side, oh well I eye balled it in the end

and the money shot

[Gregski]

at this point I hit a Mechanics High, I had to keep going I had to see the carb on there tonight...

so first the studs went in...

then the split down the middle carb base gasket...

then the crown jewel... the Holley Carburetor

[motornut]

Originally Posted by Gregski

at this point I hit a Mechanics High, I had to keep going I had to see the carb on there tonight...

so first the studs went in...

then the split down the middle carb base gasket...

then the crown jewel... the Holley Carburetor

Looks great up there

[68Timber]

Nice work! Am I the only one that still geeks a little when the shiny new parts are bolted on but intake gasket peeks out in the middle like its giving you the finger?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

Nice work! Am I the only one that still geeks a little when the shiny new parts are bolted on but intake gasket peeks out in the middle like its giving you the finger?

Yes the new manifold is narrower in the mid section, so the blue gasket does peak out and it bugs me to no end, I may not have gotten the gasket that Weiand recommends, but then again AutoZone may not have had that one in stock anyway, maybe I will get the right one when I swap the heads

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by Gregski

Yes the new manifold is narrower in the mid section, so the blue gasket does peak out and it bugs me to no end, I may not have gotten the gasket that Weiand recommends, but then again AutoZone may not have had that one in stock anyway, maybe I will get the right one when I swap the heads

I didn't mean it was your fault. I've got one to paint and mount, with the same gaskets. I'm sure it'll do the same thing.

[Gregski]

still far from being done with this phase, got to put the dizzy back, connect the vacuum hoses, thermostat, coolant hoses, throttle linkage, even a bit of electrical to do ~ but it's so rewarding at this point!

[bnoon]

I need to hire you to clean my stuff. If I ever get rich like Jay Leno, you have a job cleaning my rides!!! Purdy parts don't make it run any better, but they sure are nice to look at.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by bnoon

I need to hire you to clean my stuff. If I ever get rich like Jay Leno, you have a job cleaning my rides!!! Purdy parts don't make it run any better, but they sure are nice to look at.

Thank you very much I take that as a complement, but no way, LOL I don't like cleaning trust me, the end result I do appreciate but not the doing it part

[rusty76]

Awesome work!

[Gregski]

ah... nothing like coming home to find more new parts waiting on you, thank you Mr. Summit - talk about instant motivation

wanted to share their packaging with you cause it reminds me of when we were young and would buy a pair of earrings for the ol' lady and put the jewelry box in a shoe box and the shoe box in a bigger box, know what I mean

[Gregski]

so this is proving to be a journey of many steps, goes to show this is no 30 minute swap

I started out by cleaning the old heater hose inlet tube fitting only to punt and buy a shinny new one cause the old one was too pitted

[Gregski]

then I plugged a few holes with the provided pipe plugs, I recon these were for some type of sensors

[Gregski]

remember a while back when I went a bit crazy and deleted all the Emission Control Systems, but I left the second water temp sensor in, well it just so happened that the new intake manifold came with a pipe plug just the perfect size to delete that sensor and since I already drained the coolant and wasn't planning on draining it again anytime in the near future I decided now was a good time as any to get rid of it

I am one of them people that I can't just say eh leave it in it's not plugged in it's not doing anything, it doesn't leak, just leave it ~ no not me, it bugs me I don't want it there if it's not doing anything, know what I mean

[Gregski]

remember months ago when one of the first things I did was clean and paint the orange valve covers black, well one of the things I did back then was special order some Mr. Gasket black rubber gaskets, cause I did not want those cheap cork ones, no, not me, I was Too Cool For School

Well guess what?

They leaked like a sieve!

[Gregski]

well I'm not too proud to admit it that this was not the first time I was bitten by Form Over Function

now I wouldn't say there is anything wrong with the Mr Gasket gaskets, I think they just don't fit my valve covers properly that's all, they may fit other types very well

So I swallowed my pride and bought the cheapie dime a dozen trusty cork gaskets (probably for a third of the cost) and oh my God they fit perfectly, amazing and snug

[Gregski]

Now riddle me this. Why on God's green earth do we wipe down the old bits like these gaskets and hang them up on our garage walls for later use?

Will there be a day when we say, hmm the truck is running awesome but those exhaust manifolds are running a bit dry, and I've got just the fix for that, I need some leaking valve cover gaskets and I know just the place where I hung them up!

[Gregski]

at some point I dropped the distributor back in and wired the leads

1 - 8 - 4 - 3 - 6 - 5 - 7 - 2

... I hope

[Gregski]

plummed the PCV to the carburetor (temporarily at least not too fond of that 10 foot hose, LOL) wish the carb nipples were not angled the opposite direction, hey the joys of after market parts

[Gregski]

cleaned and plumbed the heater hoses, tried to take them off the heater but didn't want to sacrifice them by splitting the ends length wise with a cutting blade to get them off the heater and I didn't want to snap the fittings not knowing if they are metal or plastic or how fragile

now that I look closely I see that I missed a spot on one of the hoses to the right end, man that is going to bug me tonight, I'll touch it up tomorrow, LOL

[Gregski]

I try to stay organized, I even bag and tag the extra bits